Congress stages strong protest against changes to MNREGA; Police detains congress leaders including former CM Hooda

Chandigarh, February 25, 2026: The Haryana Congress today held a strong protest against the changes made by the BJP government to MNREGA as the Congress said the BJP is deliberately trying to weaken the social security net provided to the poorest of the poor.

Party in-charge BK Hariprasad, former Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda, State President Rao Narendra Singh, former State President Udaybhan, MPs Deepender Singh Hooda, Jaiprakash JP, Varun Mulana, Satpal Brahmachari, Jitendra Baghel, along with other senior leaders, MPs, MLAs, and thousands of workers participated in the protest.

Party leaders, workers and many people marched from the Congress office towards the Assembly. However, the police stopped the March midway. The protesters raised slogans against the government's dictatorship and its conspiracy to abolish MNREGA. They waved placards and party flags to register their strong protest. The police detained several senior leaders and thousands of workers.

On this occasion, Bhupinder Singh Hooda said the BJP government has undermined the rights of Dalits, backward classes, the poor, rural population, and panchayats, but Congress stands firmly with MNREGA workers and is campaigning across the country to protect their employment. He said that the BJP, after coming to power, began weakening MNREGA. “The Congress’ response to a question in Parliament revealed that over 800,000 MNREGA workers were registered in Haryana. However, in 2024-25, the government provided 100 days of work to only 2100 families. The government neither provided work nor compensation as outlined in the scheme,” he said.

“This means the BJP had already virtually abolished this scheme in Haryana. Now, with the name change, the scheme has been wiped out. However, Congress will oppose it at every level and force the government to reverse this anti-people decision,” he added.

Hooda said that the MNREGA scheme introduced by the Congress government was meant to advance Mahatma Gandhi's Gram Swaraj movement, and its budget was determined based on demand, meaning there was no budget limit in this law. All states and districts were required to provide work to all those who sought it. It was the central government's responsibility to allocate the budget for all those workers.

“But now, that budget has been divided between the central government and the states in such a way that its determination and management become difficult,” Hooda pointed out.